First it was Saddleworth…. Now you can hold your candidate to account

The Straight Choice

Rough and tumble elections have been part and parcel of political life for as long as anyone can remember – so it’s not a surprise that the those around Phil Woolas, the Oldham MP who has been kicked out after an election court ruled claims made in his leaflets were not correct, thought they could get away with what they were saying.

It’s the first time in 99 years such an election court has been held and until this general election, most candidates would have considered themselves unlucky if they were held to account for comments made in their election leaflets after votes had been cast.

But now we have The Straight Choice, the crowd-sourcing project which, prior to this year’s election, urged people to upload as many election leaflets as possible.

While it’s unlikely that going through the leaflets now will lead to another election court, it might be worth seeing what the ultimate victor was promising prior to the election – especially when you consider the relaxed attitude the parties seem to have adopted to their pre-election manifestos.